Papers

20 results
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Article Tier 2

The Plastic Age: River Pollution in China from Crop Production and Urbanization

Researchers developed an integrated model estimating that 716 kilotons of plastics entered Chinese rivers annually from crop production mulching, sewage systems, and mismanaged solid waste, with agricultural plastic films being a major but often overlooked source.

2023 Environmental Science & Technology 37 citations
Review Tier 2

Distribution, characteristics, and research status of microplastics in the trunk stream and main lakes of the Yangtze River: A review

This review synthesizes research on microplastic distribution, characteristics, and sources in the Yangtze River trunk stream and its major lakes, identifying industrial discharges, urban runoff, and agricultural films as dominant pollution sources affecting one of the world's most populated river basins.

2022 China Geology 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Occurrence, distribution and affecting factors of microplastics in agricultural soils along the lower reaches of Yangtze River, China

Researchers conducted a large-scale field survey of microplastics in agricultural soils along the lower Yangtze River, finding widespread contamination that correlated with proximity to plastic-mulching farmland and irrigation with treated wastewater.

2021 The Science of The Total Environment 220 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in the Yangtze River Basin: Heterogeneity of abundances and characteristics in different environments

Researchers compiled microplastic data from 624 sampling sites across the Yangtze River Basin covering water, sediment, soil, and biota, revealing heterogeneous contamination patterns driven by local land use, population density, and wastewater infrastructure.

2021 Environmental Pollution 112 citations
Article Tier 2

Selected legacy and emerging organic contaminants in sediments of China's Yangtze – the world's third longest river: Response to anthropogenic activities

Researchers conducted the first extensive survey of legacy and emerging organic contaminants in sediments along the entire Yangtze River. They found that pharmaceuticals and personal care products were the dominant contaminants, followed by polychlorinated biphenyls, neonicotinoid pesticides, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. The study links contamination levels to anthropogenic activities such as urbanization, agriculture, and industrial discharge along different stretches of the river.

2024 Environmental Pollution 17 citations
Article Tier 2

Water Pollution and Agriculture: Multi-pollutant Perspectives

This review examines agriculture as a multi-pollutant source of water contamination, identifying large spatial and temporal variation in nutrient, pesticide, plastic, and pathogen loads and arguing that agricultural water management strategies must account for these simultaneous pollutant interactions.

2023 Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Evaluation of nitrate pollution sources in surface water across the typical rural-urban interface: a case study of Wen-Rui Tang River, China

Researchers identified the main sources of nitrate pollution in a rural-urban Chinese river, finding that human sewage and agricultural runoff were the primary contributors. While focused on nitrogen pollution, the study illustrates how mixed land use creates complex water quality challenges in rivers that also carry microplastics.

2021 Research Square (Research Square) 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Water Quality Evaluation, Spatial Distribution Characteristics, and Source Analysis of Pollutants in Wanquan River, China

This paper is not about microplastics — it assesses water quality in a Chinese river basin, finding that agricultural runoff and domestic sewage are the main pollution sources, without examining plastic contamination.

2023 Applied Sciences 10 citations
Article Tier 2

A Comprehensive Analysis of Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution in China: Current Status, Risk Assessment and Management Strategies

This review analyzes agricultural pollution in China from fertilizers, pesticides, plastic films, livestock, and crop waste, and finds widespread nitrogen, phosphorus, and heavy metal contamination across provinces. Microplastic pollution from agricultural plastic films was assessed as low risk, but heavy metals like arsenic and cadmium pose serious cancer risks to adults and children. The study recommends strategies focused on reducing pollution at the source to protect both farmland and human health.

2024 Sustainability 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental fate of microplastics in the world's third-largest river: Basin-wide investigation and microplastic community analysis

Researchers conducted a basin-wide investigation of microplastics throughout the entire Yangtze River system, sampling water, sediment, and soil. The study found microplastics in all samples with abundance increasing from upstream to downstream, driven by both geographical and human factors, with major cities at the middle and lower reaches identified as key pollution nodes.

2021 Water Research 254 citations
Article Tier 2

How the Yangtze River transports microplastic to the east China sea

Researchers used interpolation and input-output modeling to estimate how the Yangtze River transports microplastics seasonally from land to the East China Sea, finding that MP loads varied substantially by month with peak transport during high-flow periods. Tributary contributions and agricultural runoff were identified as major factors controlling MP flux to the estuary.

2022 Chemosphere 43 citations
Article Tier 2

[Microplastic Pollution Status and Ecological Risk Evaluation in Weihe River].

This Chinese study characterized microplastic abundance, shapes, sizes, colors, and polymer types in the Weihe River in northwest China. The findings document significant microplastic contamination in a major regional river that drains one of China's most densely populated agricultural areas, raising concerns about both ecosystem and human health.

2023 PubMed 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Macroplastic and microplastic contamination assessment of a tropical river (Saigon River, Vietnam) transversed by a developing megacity

Researchers assessed macroplastic and microplastic contamination in a tropical river in Vietnam, finding elevated pollution levels linked to urban and agricultural land use along the waterway.

2018 Environmental Pollution 517 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic pollution in the Yangtze River: Characterization, influencing factors, and scenario-based predictions using machine learning method

Microplastic pollution in the Yangtze River was characterized across multiple sampling sites, documenting spatial patterns in particle abundance, polymer types, and size distributions. As one of the world's largest rivers, the Yangtze's microplastic burden has major implications for plastic delivery to the Pacific Ocean.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in the yangtze river: Evaluating pollution levels and the need for standardized research methods

This review synthesizes data from 21 studies to assess microplastic pollution levels across the Yangtze River Basin, characterizing particles by abundance, size, shape, and polymer type while applying strict QA/QC protocols and highlighting the critical need for standardized research methods.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Small microplastic particles dominate Yangtze River particulate pollution

Annual field monitoring of microplastic fluxes in the Yangtze River estuary found that small particles dominated the plastic load and that abundance was spatially and temporally heterogeneous, providing the first systematic estimate of the river's annual plastic contribution to the ocean.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Surface Water in the Yangtze River, China: Basin-Wide Observation, Multiple Ecological Risk Assessment and Sustainability

Researchers conducted a three-year survey of microplastic pollution across the entire Yangtze River Basin in China and found an average of nearly 8,800 microplastic particles per cubic meter of surface water. Tiny particles smaller than 0.3 millimeters made up over 92% of what was found and drove the variation in pollution levels between locations. The study highlights that previous research may have significantly underestimated microplastic contamination by not capturing these smallest particles.

2025 Sustainability 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Extent and risks of microplastic pollution in the Yangtze River. State of the science

This review analyzed data from 21 studies on microplastic pollution in the Yangtze River, one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Researchers found that many existing studies had quality issues that make it difficult to accurately assess the true risks. The study calls for higher-quality, standardized research methods to properly evaluate how microplastics are affecting one of Asia's most important waterways.

2023 The Science of The Total Environment 24 citations
Article Tier 2

Current practices and future perspectives of microplastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems in China

This review summarizes current knowledge and future research priorities for microplastic pollution in China's freshwater ecosystems, including rivers, lakes, and wetlands, identifying both urban and agricultural sources as major contributors. The authors call for nationally coordinated monitoring, standardized methods, and stronger regulatory frameworks to address the growing microplastic burden in Chinese freshwater systems.

2019 The Science of The Total Environment 251 citations
Article Tier 2

Small microplastic particles dominate Yangtze River particulate pollution

Researchers conducted annual monitoring of plastic particle fluxes in the Yangtze River estuary, finding that small microplastic particles dominate particulate pollution and that their distribution varies significantly by location and season, with important implications for estimating riverine plastic inputs to the sea.

2025 Figshare